Non-woven webs are a ubiquitous part of daily life. Non-woven webs are currently used in a variety of disposable articles including, but not limited to, feminine hygiene products, diapers, training pants, adult incontinence products and wipes. Disposable wipes comprised of non-woven webs are widely used by consumers to clean surfaces, such as glass and ceramic tile, as well as to clean the skin of children and adults. Pre-moistened or wet wipes are also known.
Wet wipes, such as baby wipes for example, should be strong enough when pre-moistened with a lotion to maintain integrity in use, but also soft enough to give a pleasing and comfortable tactile sensation to the user(s). In addition, wet wipes should have sufficient cloth-like texture and porosity to be effective in cleaning the soiled skin of a user. Moreover, wet wipes should have fluid retention properties such that each wipe remains wet during extended storage periods.
In order to provide the wipes consumer with improved value and convenience, it may be desirable to provide the consumer with a large quantity of pre-moistened wipes with the aforementioned qualities in a portable, liquid impervious container. However, this can be problematic due to the tendency of the lotion to drain from the top of the stack of wet wipes to the bottom of the stack of wet wipes during storage. This tendency often results in the unsatisfactory result of the wipes at the top of the stack being too dry and the wipes at the bottom of the stack being too soggy.
Various methods have been utilized in order to reduce the tendency of a lotion to drain from the top to the bottom of a stack of pre-moistened wipes during storage, while providing the individual wipes with good surface cleaning characteristics. For example, pre-moistened wipes have been made with high amounts of absorbent cellulose fibers and relatively small amounts of fine synthetic fibers. The resulting wipes are characterized by planar surfaces and a relatively small average pore size. While a small average pore size may be beneficial for trapping and retaining liquid within the wipes while they are in a stack configuration, the wipes may have a dry feel during use, despite being saturated with lotion. Moreover, while these characteristics may provide for adequate cleaning of soiled surfaces, they may not provide the exceptionally soft cleaning experience that consumers of wet wipes desire.
By increasing the thickness of pre-moistened wipes, cleaning performance may be improved while achieving exceptional softness. However, increasing thickness typically requires the use of more raw materials, which in turn can make the wipes more expensive. To increase thickness without increasing cost, pre-moistened wipes have been made with decreased density and lofted texture. The resulting thicker, lower density wipes may be characterized by larger average pore sizes, which can allow particles to be captured and trapped within the pores of the wipe, thereby providing the wipe with good cleaning properties. However, these pre-moistened wipes may not provide for good liquid retention in a stack configuration, since the liquid may drain via gravity and other forces through the large pores. The poor liquid retention may limit the number of wipes that can be stored in a stack in a portable, liquid impervious container, without the lotion draining from the wipes that are toward the top of the stack. Consequently, these pre-moistened wipes may have reduced viability as a convenient and economic option for consumers.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a stack of pre-moistened wipes that are soft, thick and cloth-like with the good cleaning properties of wipes with relatively low density and a large average pore size that also have good lotion retention properties such that they may be stored and marketed in an economical stacked configuration.
Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a stack of soft, thick, cloth-like pre-moistened wipes with good cleaning properties that individually exhibit relatively high retention of lotion when stored in a stack, yet that provide a wet feel when subjected to the forces encountered during use by the consumer.